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Wednesday, May 17, 2017 3

Preparing your lawn for summer should start in the fall

BY CARLIE CONNOLLY carlie.connolly@reddeerexpress.com

What many might not know is that getting your lawn ready for summer time should actually start in the fall.

“There’s a general misconception among people. A lot of people end up leaving their lawn long, they leave a bunch of grass clippings on there and stuff,” said Lloyd Calver, owner and operator of Alberta Lawn Dawgs.

He said when people leave their grass long and wake up with a bunch of mulch and grass clippings on their lawn it actually creates a layer across the top of the soil where the root system is. And living in Alberta where there’s lots of snow, everything can pack down onto the lawn.

“All that snow and everything packs down so the lawn is actually covered. It’s almost insulated in a sense, which does help for green up, but it doesn’t allow any of the winter moisture, the snow and what-not, when it melts to get down to the dirt to help start the roots and the grass to come around,” said Calver.

Calver said he tries to get his customers to cut their grass in September for a couple of weeks so it’s a bit shorter for later preparation. “That way in the spring the best thing to do is get out there and rake it, whether you hand rake it or you power rake it.”

He warned to not use those lawnmower detaching blades, which he believes do more damage to a person’s lawn than good. He says it shortens the lawn too much. “I’m an advocate against those because they end up doing more damage to the root system than good.”

In terms of how often to mow your lawn, Calver said in the fall when it slows right down, taking out your equipment near the end of August doesn’t hurt. “You’re not supposed to cut more than a third of the length of grass off anyway.”

Everybody’s grass also grows at a different rate so it all depends on how often one cuts their lawn.

“Some people put a lot of nutrients in their lawn, their lawns are very healthy, have good soil, they get good sunlight and good oxygen. Some people’s lawns grow a lot more in the fall.”

He said with that said, you don’t want to go and mow down your growing grass to a super

short level. He said that’s fine, catch it before your lawn starts however, to do in the spring as to get too green. “When the it’s dormant and not growing grass is starting to green up quite yet. already, it’s starting to grow.

As soon as that grass dries up It’s starting to take nutrients in the spring, you can begin to in again. It’s back to new life.”

He said livhand rake it or mow it down ing in Alberta ▾ and rake it in the winter “GRASS IS LIKE A again to lift off time, people of HUMAN BEING. WE the dead dying course shovel grass or hire a NEED WATER, FOOD, their driveways company to do and sidewalks, OXYGEN - AND some of the which sees a SUNLIGHT DOESN’T work as it can lot of snow and HURT HUMANS get quite dirty ice getting built and dusty. up on the lawn.

EITHER. A LAWN IS Once you “Whenever it NO DIFFERENT.” gets built up on do your fall lawn preparathe lawn it packs Lloyd Calver tion, get at it down and com▴ pacts. People again in early that have kids April or May depending on the year. “This or use their backyards a lot or year there was a couple of areas have high traffic areas, you get I was able to go in and do the soil compaction.”

He said what you need is that power raking and clean up on in April, but not a lot of them,” moisture and oxygen.

“Grass is like a human being. he said.

He said you want to try and We need water, food, oxygen

- and sunlight doesn’t hurt humans either. A lawn is no different.”

To keep up with that nice green lawn, the work put in really depends on how fast your grass grows and how you cut the lawn. “You don’t want to cut your grass when you’re not cutting more than a third of the length off.”

He said if it grows four inches or three to three and a half inches, you just want to cut off three quarters of an inch of that.

Weeds can also be a big issue in lawns for Red Deerians, especially those pesky dandelions.

“We have this problem going on with the bees. I don’t always recommend harsh chemicals and what-not, trying to help the bees out with population.”

This doesn’t mean the weeds aren’t bothersome. If you do have a weed problem, Calver said it’s sometimes best to talk to someone who specializes in that sort of thing so they can set up a program for you. If you want to be more environmentally friendly, however, you can handpick them yourself.

“There are plenty of weed pulling tools they sell out there at hardware stores. Some work better than others. I found that a $20 one works just as good as a $40 one.”

For damage like spots caused from animals in the area coming by to do their business, he recommends people to rake up the area so the dead grass is away from the damaged area.

“You want to bring down that

surface to the top, get some soil, get some dirt, put some dirt down there, throw some seed on, rake the dirt in, rake the seed in with the dirt over the surface of that and water it.”

A lot of lawns get thin, worn out or see lumpy spots.

Calver recommends homeowners to bring in top soil, compost or manure or however they wish to do it, and spread it on the lawn, raking to a half to three-quarters of an inch all around the lawn.

“It’s not going to hurt it. You’re putting soil back over the lawn surface, you’re putting natural nutrients back over it and then over time your grass is going to grow through all that and your lawn is going to be healthier year after year.”

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Spring Home & Garden

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Outdoor living tips to

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BACKYARD

BY CARLIE CONNOLLY carlie.connolly@reddeerexpress.com

Planning that nice family get together or perhaps a high school reunion? Whatever the case may be, making your outdoors livable doesn’t have to complicated.

A person should start at the beginning and think of what they’re going to do in that space, said Co-owner of Sun N Fun Sheila Edmondson with Gerry Bell.

“So how do we live in our homes? Do we entertain a lot? Do we just like to relax when we get home? Do we have a busy lifestyle? Are we very active?”

These are the questions Edmondson said one should ask when making decisions on their outdoor living space.

She said one needs to think about what they’re going to do in every aspect of their backyard.

“For instance if you’re an entertainer and you love to have company over all the time, then you would be looking to set up a dining space outside with a barbecue and have all the fixin’s that way and make sure that you can entertain with all your guests,” she said.

For those just wanting to keep it casual with close family, she suggested a deep seating area, like a sectional, the same as you would have inside your home.

Another example Edmondson used is a person who has medical conditions that might need

some hydro therapy. A good option for them, she said, would be a hot tub, which is of great relief, comfortable and easy to access when needed.

“Families can always use a pool to entertain. You know where the kids are and half the neighbourhood kids are at your house too, because they’re out there enjoying summer and making those memories that last forever and ever.”

A hot tub, however, can be used 12 months of the year and really compliments the pool for those cooler days, she added.

Edmondson said now is a good time to open up the pools for the summer. The closing of the pool, she said, depends on the type of pool.

“The most entry level pools will probably close by the middle of September, but we have had other pools that are heated in ground that go right into the end of October,” she said, adding that it depends if the weather stays nice.

When it comes to care tips for your furniture and hot tubs, the instructions are always right in front of you, or at least they should be.

“With furniture I would just say you always have to follow manufacturer’s instructions. Generally speaking all of the furniture that we carry, it should be stored upright.”

If stacked, she said, they need to be in the same position, not turned upside down and every which way.

As for the care of outdoor furniture, that will depend on the finish of the product, but most come with a care guide or can be found online.

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“Caution and care on the products that you use always start out with vinegar - even just vinegar and water solution. Vinegar is a great cleaner,” she said, adding that it’s okay to use in pools and hot tubs, as well.

Edmondson said when people are looking at where to position their furniture in the backyard, she often likes to think of what it is that she most likes to look at in the yard.

“Just take a chair outside and sit and is there a tree that you like to watch? Are there birds over here? Do you want your back to your neighbour’s house? Those are things to keep in mind.”

Once the backyard is all set up for that nice outdoor living space, many people often think of all the work they now have to do - especially when it comes to hot tubs.

“There’s so much misinformation as far as hot tub maintenance goes,” she said.

When she first had a hot tub, she said she never got involved in the maintenance of it because of how complicated it seemed to her at the time, but

complicated is actually far from the truth when it comes to hot tub care and upkeep.

“It’s actually very simple when you get on a program,” said Edmondson.

She said hot tub maintenance doesn’t have to be hard. “It’s about using the right product at the right time.”

She said they are regulated under the federal government on the levels that certain chemicals have to be in a hot tub for both residential and commercial use.

“A brand new hot tub owner is going to use three to four products every week. For him or her to put the chemicals in it would take about five minutes, but the process does require 20 minutes because you have to have your lid open for 20 minutes.”

She said you also want to balance three things in the water, and that is alkalinity, PH and calcium.

“Pools are even easier than hot tubs because the water is cooler and it’s a bigger body of water so it doesn’t go wayward fast.”

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Red Deer Express

Tips for

Spring Home & Garden

flower-planting in Central newbies Alberta

BY CARLIE CONNOLLY carlie.connolly@reddeerexpress.com

Ever think about planting some beautiful flowers to spruce up your yard but don’t know where to start?

Owner of Wolf ’s Botanical Ingrid Hainzmann has the answers for you.

Some of those basic tips for preparing flowers start with the soil.

“Never use old soil and never use garden soil for your plants. It has to be potted soil,” said Hainzmann.

She said buying Soiler’s Mix (potting mix) is the best choice, which you can purchase at the greenhouse you get

your plants from or hardware stores.

The reason for not using garden soil is because it’s way too heavy and you don’t want any bugs or whatever might be in the ground in your pot. “You don’t want the weeds in the pot and when you use potting soil, there are no weeds. It’s all sterilized,” she said.

She added that garden soil also never drains properly.

“You don’t save any money because the plants would not grow properly to their ability when you stick them into garden soil.”

When it comes to first-time flower buyers, Hainzmann said some of the

easiest to care for types are petunias because of the changing weather conditions Red Deerians face.

“Since we live in a hail area, they recover the best from all of them,” she said, adding that they’re easy to grow and bloom constantly from day one.

She said they can even afford to get a bit chilled from the -1C temperatures and still bloom.

But with the harsh weather, it’s inevitable that damage can occur to flowers, so Hainzmann gave her two cents for repair methods. “If the hail goes through it and regardless what kind of flowers, wait for two days and then you’ll see exactly what is damaged, because by that time it’s wilted and you have the marks like white dots on leaves or stems or flowers.”

Those white spots, she said, are from where the hail hits, which could also result in chopped off branches or flowers.

In this case, she said to not be shy of cutting.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017 5

“It’s better to cut more off than less because the plant tries to recover and if it’s damaged badly, either the recovery won’t happen or it will take a long time,” she said, adding that that’s why you have to wait two to three days until you see what’s damaged, and then cut it all off so there’s nothing dead or broken.

She said it might look ugly for two weeks, but it will recover. And those petunias, she said, bounce back the fastest.

So when should you put these flowering tips to use?

“Don’t get carried away with one day of sunshine.”

She said a lot of people tend to buy their flowers early and they become garage flowers for two weeks.

“Buy the appropriate flowers at the appropriate time, meaning you can buy perennials now.”

When it comes to baskets however, Hainzmann said don’t buy anything until mid-May, so flower enthusiasts,

you are now in luck. She said before this time, one ends up bringing the planters in and out of the garage, which isn’t good for the flowers. “The nights are chilly. It has to warm up, and right now even with the sun, the wind is cold.”

She said it’s also okay to buy vegetable plants like cauliflower and cabbage now, except for tomatoes and peppers as they need more warmth.

Like the past few years, this year’s flower trends are the succulent flowers of any kind in any kind of container as they need less water. And if people don’t water, they will still survive.

“Other than this it’s the instant gratification for the younger generation.

(Many) don’t have the patience to wait so they buy finished baskets and planters of any sort,” she said, adding that with the succulent types, they can bring them home, plant them and enjoy them from day one, not having to wait two months to get them nice.

Take stock of what your home really needs this spring Spring has certainly taken its sweet time getting here!

When you wake up to snow on the ground for a few days in a row only to be tempted and given false hope by the warm sun in the afternoon, the cycle can get a bit disheartening.

Wandering the aisles of home improvement stores you see rows of plants and shrubs which should be in the garden center sitting inside the fluorescent lighting of the store and it is another reminder that spring is slow to wake up.

Our appreciation of the green season will be that much greater when it finally does arrive and it is safe to assume that stores and greenhouses alike will be flooded with consumers itching to get their hands dirty.

Whether you are repairing fences, staining decks or planting things in the soil, it is a gloriously messy time of year and we dig into these projects happily. The sedentary living of the winter months cannot be shed fast enough and it is with great joy that we un-cocoon ourselves in search of light and fresh grass.

The first robin or butterfly spotted fills us

with hope and life and we smile and turn our face to the sun.

This is the time of year to take inventory of your home’s exterior, as you are enjoying more life outside why not examine your home and see what havoc winter has unleashed on your home and take notes for repair.

The sooner you can jump on repairs the more minor they are and much easier to tackle.

A deck with a few exposed boards is an easy fix compared to a crumbling deck needing full board replacement.

Repair is inexpensive and prevents major costs in the future and can usually be tackled in an afternoon.

Many people do not perform routine maintenance on their homes; it can be compared to flossing your teeth.

Dental floss is around $3 and about five minutes out of your day compared to thousands of dollars in dentist bills in the future.

Cleaning your gutters is free and requires a ladder and a hose which is a much less expensive option to clearing up water damage when the downspouts fail. Somewhere, somebody’s Granny said, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth

Kim Wyse

Add Some Curb Appeal Neighborhoods are getting whipped into shape for Spring; streets have been swept, trees are in bloom & that familiar tender green colour is popping everywhere. It is the time of year when Canadians start to spend as much time outdoors as possible- I don’t know about you, but after spending months of focusing on my home’s interior, I’m anxious to add some curb appeal to the exterior.

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We carry many exterior products at Central Alberta Tile One, but we are very excited about Stone Concept’s Natural Thin Veneer stone. Stone veneer is the exterior stone you Ƃnd on homes, Ƃreplaces etc. Manufactured stone veneer is actually a man-made product that is comprised of a concrete material formed in a mold, uniform in shape & size. Stone Concept’s line is different, because it is the real deal! This is natural stone with all of the variation, texture & character that can only be found in nature. These products are a sure way to make your home’s exterior stand out from the rest. Masons love to work with natural products, and clients rave about the unique Ƃnished product. We have a display set up in our showroom, stop by to have a look & you will immediately see the appeal (and you will be pleasantly surprised by the pricing!)

a pound of cure’ and she was a smart granny.

Think paint and stain this spring.

Get those window trims tidied up and painted a fresh clean colour and re-stain those (especially) horizontal spaces which are showing wear.

Ice, snow and shovelling are murder on a wood deck and should be stained every two years. If you accomplish it early in the season, you give yourself permission to lounge on that deck this summer with a beer and a burger while you congratulate yourself on a job well done.

If repairs are done regularly they will remain

small and manageable and your satisfaction with your home will be easy to enjoy.

When the jobs get out of hand and ignored the pressure and stress begins to mount and suddenly you are in possession of a to-do list you can’t see the end of and it becomes necessary to bury your head in the sand for another year.

Keep on top of the small hill before it becomes a mountain!

Kim Wyse is a Central Alberta freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Ask a Realtor/ Ask a Designer’.

6 Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Spring Home & Garden

Red Deer Express

Red Deer man leading the way to a

sustainable lifestyle

BY MARK WEBER mark.weber@reddeerexpress.com

Transforming your yard and home into thriving source of food and a more sustainable lifestyle are achievable goals - even in the relatively cool western Canadian climate.

Rene Michalak has been doing just this for several years now.

“I moved into this house in 2008 - and it was just your conventional house,” he explained of his Oriole Park home. “Spruce trees in the front and back, lilacs bushes, a whole lot of ant hills and a whole lot of degraded grass from the spruce trees.

I started to learn about sustainability and what the components of that would be.”

He came across what are known as ‘transition towns’ which are community-inspired and community-led initiatives to address issues like climate change and rising fossil fuel prices. Essentially, it boiled down to ‘food, fuel and finance’, he said.

“So I started to learn about food security, food sovereignty and perma-culture design.

“From perma-culture design it became an integrated system of designing a property so that each component amplifies the other, as opposed to each element requiring its own separate input.”

Bottom line?

“You can do what they do on a farm at your own home, but most people would balk at the idea because of the amount of labour they anticipate would be involved. But what I’ve learned is that if you set it up properly, nature will do the work.

And it’s always been that way and always will - but we’ve kind of usurped that to make jobs for people.

“When we can use nature’s patterns and apply them to our own human design, then all of a sudden the bounty is huge and the work is decreased - if you set it up right.”

Michalak said that ultimately, it’s a new way of thinking as compared to much of modern thought - which is bent on industrial growth and expansion.

But this focus on sustainability is growing. “I like to think of it as holding a beach ball under water.

You can only hold it under water for so long, and then when you let it go it fires up!”

Michalak has been very community-minded on many levels and over the past several years, his focus has also been on ReThink Red Deer - a tremendous source of information for those with similar interests. The organization is marking its 10th anniversary this year.

All kinds of projects are on the go as well with ReThink Red Deer including ecoliving workshops, Little Green Thumbs which is an indoor gardening program that gives elementary and high school students the opportunity to become food producers right in their own classroom and the Piper Creek Project which involves ReThink Red Deer and supporting organizations working to restore a roughly 25-acre section of Piper Creek south of the City of Red Deer Landfill.

Meanwhile, Michalak’s passion for guiding others along the path to greater sustainability certain begins at home. He grows a range of fruits and vegetables there, and has also collected about 4,000 litres of water this past winter thanks to periods of heavy moisture.

“If we start with our own properties and take it one step at a time, set up our own living spaces,

SUSTAINABLE LIVING - Rene Michalak shows off part of his Red Deer property which he has made eco-friendly and sustainable.

Mark Weber/Red Deer Express become comfortable with it and share that with our neighbours, ideas then spread. As long as it’s fun and you are getting a positive return, that’s essentially what community living is supposed to be.”

At home, his goal is to feed a family of four per year forever.

Michalak said he started off on a trial and error basis with growing a number of things from tomatoes to apples, pears, plums, a whole bunch of berries, asparagus, saskatoons, cherries, apricots, black currants among others.

“In the front yard there are two pear trees, more black currants, some goose berries and some flowers which are good for pollinators.

There’s all this abundance waiting for us to tap back into,” he explained.

“And there are all kinds of ways to produce all of

the calories you need in many forms that people would like,” adding that there are also aquaponics options for fish production, too. He’s also changed his lawn to a forest floor to make for a richer, healthier soil. “If it’s healthy soil, you have healthy plants. But most people focus on the plant too much and forget about the soil.”

Besides his own work at home, Michalak is passionate about sharing what he’s learned over the years - whether on an informal basis or via talks and workshops through ReThink Red Deer, for example.

“In that learning, we inspire each other and build momentum and enthusiasm to change the culture and to return to a sustainable way of living,” he said.

“The challenge is in showing people there are other ways to live than just the industrial model.”

Red Deer Express

Spring Home & Garden

Discovering the

BY MARK WEBER mark.weber@reddeerexpress.com

City officials are continuing to encourage residents to discover the magic of composting, which leads to superb results with local lawns and gardens.

According to the City’s web site, composting is copying a natural process that recycles organic material - like food and yard waste - into a nutrient-rich additive for soil.

“Composting can improve your lawn and garden, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the landfill and reduce your household garbage by a third.”

Each year, the City runs a program where folks are taught about the composting process. This spring, the program is full but officials encourage anyone interested to get in touch so as to be added to next year’s waiting list.

In the meantime, there are all kinds of handy resources online to help get residents started.

“People can start anytime - we do have resources and we encourage peo-

Wednesday, May 17, 2017 7

GARDENING MAGIC OF COMPOSTING ple to get started on their own at www. reddeer.ca/composting,” said Lauren Maris, environmental program specialist with the City of Red Deer.

“Under videos and resources, there are some videos of the presentations that we actually give in the program.

We also had a family that we worked with - we videotaped their whole experience over the year.

“And we’ve got the brochure that we use from Alberta Environment in our workshop - that is a really good resource on how to compost. So there is a lot of really good stuff on there to help people get started on their own,” she said.

“It’s really important that we start returning these nutrients to the soil because soils around the world are being depleted because we are locking those nutrients away in the landfills,” she explained. “And so we want to make sure we are continuing the nutrient cycle and returning those nutrients back into the soil so it can continue to grow healthy plants.”

Loads of things can go into the compost container.

“We are talking about potato peelings, lettuce cores, green pepper cores, apple cores, carrot peelings and banana peels, lemon and orange rinds,” she said, adding that pits in general should

▾ “I ALSO HEAR THE WORDS, ‘I LOVE THIS PROGRAM’ QUITE FREQUENTLY WHICH IS REALLY GREAT.”

Lauren Maris ▴

be avoided as they take a long time to degrade. No meats, no fats or oils or greases should be put in, however.

“That’s the stuff that gets rancid - and it can attract pests. That sort of stuff can’t go in your backyard composter.

“Really, we are just copying a natural process that happens all of the time,” she said. “And we are also the ones who

have interrupted that natural process by taking all of that organic waste and putting it in the landfills.

“There are also lots of ways to use compost - you can use it in the garden, and we find that about 80 per cent of our participants are gardeners because they know the value of the compost.

“But you can also use it on your lawn.

Instead of synthetic fertilizer, you can use it to top dress your lawn. That’s a fancy phrase for ‘thinly rake’. So you can thinly rake about an eighth of an inch of compost all over your lawn,” she said, adding residents can also use it in flowerbeds and as mulch on perennials beds. “You can use it around trees and shrubs, too.”

Meanwhile, since the inception of the program in 2012, residents have been eager to sign on.

This year, about 200 participants have received all the tools, training and support they need to start composting at home.

For those who have gone through the program, the feedback they provide

has been terrific, she said.

“People love diverting their waste first of all, and we hear all the time that that is in itself so important to people. I also hear the words, ‘I love this program’ quite frequently which is really great,” she said with a smile.

“It’s also important that everyone in the household is onboard,” she added.

“If people are putting the wrong things into the compost, it can really negatively affect the composter - it can get stinky and attract pests,” she said, pointing out that those types of situations can happen if the composter isn’t taken care of and managed properly.

“That’s the whole point of this program, is to make sure people have everything they need to know to do it properly. They can call me anytime to talk about composting - and that’s not just for people in the program.

Anyone resident can call me and ask composting questions.”

For more information, call Lauren Maris at 403-314-5894.

Mortgage facts to know before you buy this spring Buying a home can be a really exciting time so the last thing we want is for you to be hit by any surprises.

Let’s take a look at five things to keep in mind before you write an offer.

1. Get your mortgage in place before you write an offer. Meeting or speaking to an actual person who will take your application and pull your credit is the best strategy. You will get a firm amount of how much of a mortgage you may qualify for. This is also a great time to make some decisions like if you want a fixed rate or variable rate, if you want a monthly or bi-weekly payment. You are far removed from the stress of meeting any condition of financing dates at this time so you have the luxury of time to ask your questions 2. Be ready to provide the necessary paperwork. If I was lending someone $300,000 I would want to know that they could pay me back and so would you I’m sure. You are going to be required to provide a lot of paperwork.

Getting a complete list ahead of time and starting to gather it really makes it less stressful for you once the offer is accepted.

3. There are extra costs. It is not just a matter of having the down payment. You will also have to pay for legal fees, title insurance, a property tax adjustment if necessary, mortgage default pre-

miums and on and on. That is why you have to have at least 5% down and an additional 1.5% of the purchase price in your account to cover these costs. The banks also really like to see that you have a fallback position of extra cash in case you get sick or downsized.

4. You can get extra funds for improvements to the new home added to your mortgage.

Most lenders allow up to $40,000 for upgrades. These have to be things such as flooring, windows, exterior, kitchen, bathroom or any other manner of upgrades which will stay with the property.

The funds are held at the lawyer’s office until an appraiser verifies the work is complete so you will have to be able to cover any costs in the short term.

5. Here is how the process goes.

• You get the mortgage pre-approval.

• Find a home and place an offer with a condition of financing date and likely a home inspection one as well.

• The application is sent off for approval based on both you and the property, and you provide all the necessary paperwork.

• The bank says they are 100% happy with you and you say you are 100% happy with the offer of financing and you remove the financing condition.

Do not make any changes to your financial picture after you remove the condition. It can be cancelled

if you leave your job, take on more debt or rack up the credit cards.

• You meet with the lawyer to provide the balance of the down payment, and cover the other costs.

• On the day of possession you are given the keys once it is confirmed that the funds have transferred to the seller.

Pam Pikkert

• Congrats! You own an home.

This has been a crash course in buying a home but there are so many resources online or available to you for free over the phone that it shouldn’t be too awful. Happy house hunting!

Pam Pikkert is a local mortgage broker with Dominion Lending Centres - Regional Mortgage Group.

The

BRIGHT way to Mortgage.

Rates starting at

1.95% *

Mountain Sod & Seed Farm Ltd. 227-5723

*Available O.A.C. See in-store for full details.

for pickup or delivery of high quality irrigated Kentucky Bluegrass Sod

Regional Mortgage Group mountainsodfarm@gmail.com

#102, 5229 50 Ave., Red Deer, AB 403.343.1125 • www.regionalmortgage.ca

8 Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Spring Home & Garden

Red Deer Express

Central Alberta Co-op Ltd.

“ENjoy it!”

BBQ’s & Patio Furniture

Beautiful Yards start with us

Dig In

Green Up

A great garden starts with the soil •Soil Mixes •Compost & Manure •Insect Control •Post Augers •Bark & Mulches •Tillers •Spades •Shovels

Get the lawn your neighbors will envy •Lawn Fertilizer •Grass Seed •Bare Spot Repair •Lawn Edging •Sprinklers •Aerators •Trimmers •Mowers •Rakes •Hoses

Power Up

Plant It

Add some power Beautify your garden to your chores with colourful plants •Garden Seed •Lawn Tractors •Bedding Plants •Lawn Mowers •Hanging Baskets •Gas Trimmers •Perennials •Tillers •Chain Saws •Trees & Shrubs •Back Pack Blower •Pull Behind Lawn Sweep •Pots (all types) •Watering Cans •Pull Behind 48 inch Aerator •Hand Tools •Pull Behind Dump Carts •Electric Tiller •Gas Post Auger

CENTRAL ALBERTA CO-OP LTD. HOME & GARDEN CENTRES Eckville – 403-746-2011 Innisfail – 403-227-4999 Red Deer – 403-341-5600 Spruce View – 403-728-3209